Potter Drilling, Inc.$4 million investment in two tranches, to develop new approaches to lower the cost and expand the range of deep hard rock drilling, a critical element to large-scale deployment of EGS.

EGS expands the potential of geothermal energy by orders of magnitude. The traditional geothermal approach relies on finding naturally occurring pockets of steam and hot water. The EGS process, replicates these conditions by fracturing hot rock, circulating water through the system, and using the resulting steam to produce electricity in a conventional turbine.

"EGS could be the ‘killer app’ of the energy world. It has the potential to deliver vast quantities of power 24/7 and be captured nearly anywhere on the planet. And it would be a perfect complement to intermittent sources like solar and wind," said Dan Reicher, Director of Climate and Energy Initiatives for Google.org.

The following video provides an overview of EGS:

In its funding announcement, Google cited an MIT report on EGS (The Future of Geothermal Energy) that estimated that just 2% of the heat below the continental United States between 3 and 10 kilometers (depths within the range of current drilling technology) is more than 2,500 times the country’s total annual energy use.

"EGS is critical to the clean electricity revolution we need to solve the climate crisis, but EGS hasn’t received the attention it merits. That’s why we’re pressing for expanded support from government and increased investment from the private sector," said Reicher, "We’re big believers in EGS and we’re looking for more opportunities."

Today’s announcement is part of Google’s Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal initiative. This initiative, announced in November 2007, focuses on solar thermal power, advanced wind, EGS, and other potential breakthrough technologies. An initial goal of this initiative (also known as "RE<C") is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal, in years, not decades.

Vulcan Power Company, a Bend, Oregon-based company that is primarily focused on the development and operation of geothermal power plants, announced on July 28th that private equity firm Denham Capital will invest $145 million in newly issued preferred equity securities of Vulcan. In addition, Merrill Lynch Commodity Partners, a principal investment fund of Merrill Lynch, will convert its outstanding notes into Vulcan preferred equity.

Geothermal energy involves drilling for heated water reservoirs, which produce steam that can be used to generate electricity. Vulcan owns one of the largest geothermal property portfolios in the U.S., including properties in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Arizona. Vulcan will use its new funds to continue to develop prime geothermal property with potential to generate 900 to 2,000 megawatts (MW) of natural steam fuel – enough to provide baseload renewable energy for up to two million people.

Steve Munson, President and CEO of Vulcan, said that the company is embarking on an ambitious drilling and project construction program: "This investment by Denham allows the company to move forward aggressively with our business plan of developing steam resources and power projects, and supporting existing long term power purchase agreements. With the strength and energy sector knowledge of our investors, Denham and Merrill Lynch, we stand to become one of the premier independent green energy companies."